Gaza Civil Defense Says 5 Killed in Israeli Strike on Displacement Camp

12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Gaza Civil Defense Says 5 Killed in Israeli Strike on Displacement Camp

12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 May 2024, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Tents for displaced people are crowded west of Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip after thousands of Palestinians fled Rafah after the Israeli army announced the start of a military operation there. Photo: Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The civil defense agency in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike Sunday hit tents at a declared safe zone in the Palestinian territory's south, killing at least five people.

A witness told AFP a newborn was among the dead in Al-Mawasi near Khan Yunis city, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from the war, now nearing its 11th month.

Since Monday, Israeli forces have operated in and around Khan Yunis including in parts of the coastal area of Al-Mawasi.

"Today, the Israeli occupation targeted... the tents of displaced people on Al-Istable street in Al-Mawasi," Muhammad al-Mughayyir of the Gaza civil defense agency told AFP.

"Five martyrs and seven wounded have been transferred to Nasser hospital" in Khan Yunis, he said.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

Miriam al-Astal who lives in Al-Mawasi said a newborn baby was killed.

"We were sitting in the tents... when suddenly we heard an explosion," she told AFP.

"I swear" there was no militant activity in the area, she said.

Israel had warned on Monday its forces would "forcefully operate" in the Khan Yunis area -- from which troops withdrew in April -- and on Saturday the civil defense agency said that 170 people have been killed by the renewed fighting and military operations.

 



Official: Israel Wants to Hurt Hezbollah Without All-out War

FILED - 14 June 2024, Lebanon, Janta: A view of destroyed cars in front of a Hezbollah three-story building that was demolished in an Israeli overnight air raid in the southern Lebanese village of Janata. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
FILED - 14 June 2024, Lebanon, Janta: A view of destroyed cars in front of a Hezbollah three-story building that was demolished in an Israeli overnight air raid in the southern Lebanese village of Janata. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
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Official: Israel Wants to Hurt Hezbollah Without All-out War

FILED - 14 June 2024, Lebanon, Janta: A view of destroyed cars in front of a Hezbollah three-story building that was demolished in an Israeli overnight air raid in the southern Lebanese village of Janata. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
FILED - 14 June 2024, Lebanon, Janta: A view of destroyed cars in front of a Hezbollah three-story building that was demolished in an Israeli overnight air raid in the southern Lebanese village of Janata. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa

Israel wants to hurt Hezbollah but does not want to drag the region into an all-out war, a senior Israeli defense official said, while two other officials said the country was preparing for the possibility of a few days of fighting.

The officials spoke as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened security assessments and his security cabinet late on Sunday, a day after a strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 children and teenagers.

The country's largest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted unnamed officials as saying the response would be "limited but significant.”

The report said options for retaliation ranged from a limited but "photogenic" attack on infrastructure including bridges, power plants and ports, to hitting Hezbollah weapons depots or targeting high-level Hezbollah commanders.